Affirmative Action Should Not Be Brought Back to University AdmissionsJamie LeeSpeech 6, Section 10165April 27, 2014Project #2, Part 2

In this presentation, I will Explain what Harms come with

Affirmative Action Explain how Affirmative Action causes

these problems The Plan How keeping Affirmative Action away is

beneficial Additional advantages of no Affirmative

Action

Overview

What is Affirmative Action? An institution engages in efforts to

improve opportunities for previously excluded groups

In universities, it refers to admission policies

What’s that?

The HarmsHow is Affirmative Action harmful?

• Unfair to highly qualified students1

• In actuality, Affirmative Action is detrimental to minorities2

• Encourages covert racism3

Harms

According to Opposing Viewpoints in Context, “Schools admitted minority students who were less qualified than white students in order to meet their quota…”

Qualified students pushed over to the side to make room for less qualified students for the sake of “diversity”

Leads to students attending universities outside of their zones of proximal development

Affirmative Action Unfair to Highly Qualified StudentsHarm 1

Harms

In an NPR discussion about Affirmative Action, Gail Hariot, professor of Law at UC San Diego and member of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights remarks that, “Universities that employ Affirmative Action actually produce fewer black scientists, engineers, and medical doctors”

This occurs when students are admitted into an academic range they regularly perform under

Leads to disheartened students, since they underperform compared with their peers, and eventually drop out

Affirmative Action hurts the minorities it is trying to help

Affirmative Action Actually Detrimental to MinoritiesHarm 2

Harms

Affirmative Action keeps society aware of the divides and increases resentment between minorities

“Positive” racism is still racism

Universities being color-blind in admissions is a strong step forward to eradicating racism

Encourages Covert RacismHarm 3

Harms

Why is Affirmative Action a problem?

Structural

Inherency

Encourages minorities

not to perform at their best

Minorities learn that

they do not have to do

their best in order to

“succeed”When put in situations in

which Affirmative

Action has no part, minorities often fall short compared to

better qualified peers

This leads to a

perpetuating cycle of under-

represented minorities

Inherency

Agent: Universities in California Mandates: 1. Affirmative action will take no part in college admissions 2. Students will gain admission into universities based on their merits 3. As a result, diversity will occur organically due to minorities’ own strengths and talents Enforcement: Rejected applicants who feel they have been

discriminated against may dispute the university’s admission decision. The student may file a case against the university in court. Results dependent upon precedent court cases.

Funding and Staffing: No extra funding or staffing needed since we are removing prior policy

Timeline: Effective immediately

The Plan

Plan of Action

SolvencyHow is Keeping Affirmative Action Away Beneficial?

• We protect the fairness of the educational system1

• We stop unintentionally hurting minorities. 2

• We do not encourage covert racism. 3

Solvency

Students receive education that more closely matches their academic level

Highly qualified students will not be cut short of an education fitting for their level of academics

We protect the fairness of the educational system

Solvency 1

Solvency

“…there are now four peer reviewed studies that show very clearly that if you receive a large preference into a college or university, you’re 50 to 75 percent more likely to drop out…” - Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won’t Admit It

Without affirmative action, minorities will be more likely to continue schooling, instead of dropping out, and in turn will come out as successful professionals

We stop unintentionally hurting minorities

Solvency 2

Solvency

We do not try to undo past racism by enacting more racism

Louis P. Pojman, philosopher and professor, points out the case of the Brooklyn Dodger’s recruitment of Jackie Robinson, saying that successful racial integration “was done in just this way, according to merit. If Robinson had been brought into the major league as a mediocre player… he would have been scorned and sent back to the minors where he belonged.”

We become color-blind from admissions, which will spread towards the rest of the country

We do not encourage covert racism Solvency 3

Solvency

Students will receive education that they are capable of and can excel in

Successful students lead to an effective workforce

A talented workforce leads to a boost in the economy

Eradicating racism entirely from education is a huge step in erasing racism in daily life

Stereotypes no longer perpetuated Minority’s personal achievements no longer

devalued by being chosen just because of ethnicity

Additional Benefits

Advantages

Let’s build a better and fairer CaliforniaUniversity admissions without Affirmative Action is more suitable

Thank You